Expert stresses hygiene to curb hepatitis

Says healthy lifestyle is key to preventing the 'silent killer'

ISLAMABAD:

A medical specialist on Monday advised a healthy lifestyle, hygienic food, clean water and proper sterilisation of all medical instruments, including blades and syringes, to prevent the spread of Hepatitis in humans.

Talking to a private news channel on the occasion of World Hepatitis Awareness Day, renowned Gastroenterology Professor Zahid Azam shed light on the causes of Hepatitis B, C, D and E pandemic –a silent killer and its cure and preventive measures from its spread.

He said that most patients in Pakistan are suffering from the Hepatitis B virus and that is directly related to the liver's malfunctioning and in Children, it is present in the form of jaundice and Hepatitis A, adding he said Hepatitis B, C, and D can even cause patients' death.

He said the most common causes of hepatitis are found in cases of negligence in daily diet, use of already unsterilized syringes and instruments, blood transfusion without prior screening, adding that he said infected tools can transmit hepatitis in other patients easily.

He recommended that the patients should demand from the chemists to use the new blades whenever they visit them in the medical shops. Replying to a question relating to external factors of Hepatitis spread and its slow cure, he said medical doctors, nurses, and surgeons should take extra care while using medical instruments such as blades and syringes to give medical help to the patients.

So far as the internal factors of Hepatitis virus spread are concerned, he said the major cause of Hepatitis E is due to unhygienic food, polluted water, while Hepatitis B, C, and D are due to blood issues.

He informed about Autoimmune Hepatitis, which is another kind, and it is caused by a patient's cell that works against their own body, and thus they get infected, but its spread is mostly in European and Western countries and not in Pakistan.

He said, "Fortunately, a cure, medicines, and a vaccine are available for Hepatitis B, while effective medicines are now available for Hepatitis C, raising hopes that the spread of Hepatitis C and D will eventually be eliminated."

Talking about Pakistan's EPI programme, he said the govt of Pakistan is equipped with sufficient Hepatitis vaccine for the cure of the diseases adding that Pakistan is on the third position in diseases like Diabetes and blood pressure which are like volcanos for fatty liver issues.